Previews

But how do you start the season with zero optimism? You can't. Or at least, I can't. Football is about hope and unpredictability. So I am clinging onto the fact that Unai wants to play a high tempo pressing game, he wants to force the opponent into errors, he wants to win the ball back quickly. The only time last season I saw City remotely sweating was when Liverpool chased after them like men possessed at Anfield in that amazing league game

If we manage to leave the Hawthorns with all three points, we will be only four points behind Manchester United which is interesting at this stage. The title is well and truly out of sight for all teams not just Arsenal but aiming for a strong second half to the season has to be our aim. If we can correct our shortcomings then we should be aiming for second, I’m sure the rest of the chasing pack will have the same target.

After our slip up last weekend we need to get back on track, we were on a good run until then. It's a funny old league this season. Aside from the steam train that is Manchester City, it looks like many teams can stumble over the course of the season as Manchester United showed at Huddersfield yesterday. Chelsea were mighty close to going 3-1 down with half an hour to go at the Bridge before turning it around. We certainly have our own issues to deal with but we forget that others are far from invincible

My interest for International football is slim to none really, it has been since I was a kid. Even though this is the case, I accepted two VIP tickets for the England vs Slovenia match at Wembley as I thought my 10-year-old son may enjoy the experience. No joke, the most entertaining part of the evening came in the second half as fans deciding to try and land paper aeroplanes on the pitch was a far more enjoyable way to pass the time than to pay attention to the dour football down below us. I did my very best to ignore the rest of the football until now and have decided to wait for the Arsenal to return to get my football juices flowing once more. Usually, I'd be rocking back and forth in a darkened room, fighting for my Arsenal fix but for some strange reason I am not feeling it, I don't have the same excitement as I have felt in the past. Hopefully, that changes when I read the confirmation of the team line up, that usually flicks on the pre-match nerves

Could tonight be the night where we dust off the old dial-up modem and plug in AÖL? Ok so that sounded much better in my head but the question still stands. We have yet to see Alexis Sanchez and Alexander Lacazette on the same pitch for even a minute let alone all three of Özil, Alexis and Lacazette starting together.

That being all said and done, Arsene is right. Conte is known as a tactical genius by all sundry yet Arsene Wenger has beaten him in 3 of our last 4 matches. If you want to disregard the Community Shield that is fair enough but there is no getting away from the fact that we were by far the superior team at home last season and the FA Cup final. In the cup final, Ramsey made many runs into Chelsea's half and caused their midfield all sorts of problems. We were dominant and took the game to them. They were not able to exploit any perceived weaknesses from us because perhaps we just

The wing backs will be very interesting. Two of our left back/wing backs seem to be in our starting 11, which does not give us much flexibility when it comes to rotation. This would have been Kieran Gibbs territory but not anymore. I suspect we will have to play Kolašinac on Thursday and Sunday. It will be interesting to see how this plays out over the course of the season because he can’t play in every competition and Nacho Monreal is no spring chicken

So let me stop reminiscing of days gone by and let me focus on our Welsh wonder. Let me start off by saying that I think it is quite obvious that Aaron Ramsey is better in central midfield. His partnership with Mesut Özil, his running from deep and his underrated ball winning ability makes him a ...Read more